"Megapixels" is the term used to tell how many millions (hence, "mega") of pixels (the little dots that make up digital images, from "picture elements") are recorded by a camera.  Pixels are arranged in rows and columns so the total number of pixels in a camera's sensor can be determined by mutiplying the number of rows by the number of columns.  For instance, if your camera creates images that are 3000 pixels wide and 2000 pixels tall, it's a "6 megapixel" camera (3000 x 2000 = 6 million).

 

 

Contrary to popular belief, more pixels won't necessarily make for better photos.  For most people and in most situations, anything above 6 megapixels isn't usually going to help you.  Unless you're regularly printing on paper bigger than 8" x 10" (or 8.5" x 11"), the resolution you'll have with 6 megapixels will be fine.  One situation where more pixels can be helpful: when you want to "crop" the image (cut a smaller image out of the original) and you'd like the new photo to still have 6 or more megapixels).  A very high quality printer will print at 300 dpi (dots per inch).  We can equate "dots" with pixels, therefore a 300 dpi 8.5" x 11" print could use, at most, 8.4 megapixels.  If you want to be able to create larger prints in the future - and you don't mind spending the extra money for the larger number of pixels - that's great, we just want you to know what you're getting for your money.

 

Planning on viewing your photos on your PC?  Or on your TV?  Your PC and TV will never be able to use all the pixels in almost any photo taken with a modern digital camera:  Assuming you have your PC's monitor set to 1280x1024 resolution, that's only about 1.3 megapixels.  Even if you display your pix on a HDTV that can handle "1080p" resolution, that means it can display up to 1920x1080 pixels - and that's only slightly more than 2 megapixels.  Try viewing a photo of higher resolution and it should look okay, but all those extra pixels will just be discarded by the PC or TV.

 

One thing you can be fairly certain of: the more megapixels you want, the more expensive the camera will be.  Digital camera sensor technology continues to advance, but getting a camera with the latest sensors (which usually equates to sensors with the greatest number of pixels) is always more expensive than buying one with older technology.

 

 

The quality of your images will depend more upon your artistic creativity, your knowledge of lighting and exposure concepts, and the quality of the lens than it will on how many millions of pixels it's divided into.  If you're using a digital SLR (or a "point and shoot" with interchangeable lenses), always go for the best quality lens you can afford.